The invention proceeds from an apparatus for transporting a container relative to a filling station.
WO 2011/138448 already discloses a system for transporting containers between various stations, the containers being received in container carriers. The system includes a control unit which controls the transporting of the container carriers, a transporting surface which is divided into part surfaces and on which the container carriers can be movably arranged, and drive means, the drive means being actuated by means of the control unit and a respective drive means being associated with a respective part surface, a respective drive means being realized for the purpose of acting upon an associated container carrier with a drive force. Said system is distinguished by high degree of flexibility, as is required, in particular, for transporting sample containers of a laboratory analysis system.
The object underlying the invention is to optimize a transporting system for a filling station in a further manner.
The advantage of an apparatus according to the invention in contrast is that sequential process steps or fixed process steps are no longer necessarily required. By at least one drive surface and at least one mover which is couplable, in particular magnetically, to the drive surface being provided, and the mover being arranged on the drive surface so as to be displaceable in at least two degrees of freedom and/or rotatable and the container receiving means being connected to the mover, the containers can be supplied to and removed from the filling station in a particularly flexible manner. In addition, by means of said drive principle, the particle emissions or the abrasion produced by relative movements of otherwise required rollers, sliding elements or drive means are able to be reduced, as the mover can now be moved contactlessly relative to the drive surface on account of the magnetic coupling. This is advantageous precisely for pharmaceutical filling lines. In addition, the cleanability of the system is improved by just planar surfaces being necessary without the otherwise usual mechanical connections that are difficult to clean between the drive and the moved container transport. In addition, expenditure precisely on set-up or assembly of the processes to the filling station are reduced by the transport not always having to provide the containers at a fixed position. In addition, the service life is increased by reducing the number of wearing parts. In addition, fixed, unchangeable mechanical routes are avoided. Switching functions are no longer place-bound but can be established at arbitrary places inside the drive surface as a result of corresponding programming. The flexible drive concept with superposition of a rotational movement of the mover can have a direct influence on the sloshing behavior of a filled, but not yet closed container, by the mover, in an expedient further development, generating a rotational movement which counters the sloshing of the filled product. Apart from a targeted superposition of the linear movement of the mover with a rotational movement, no further additional mechanical movement means are necessary in order to reduce the sloshing of the filled product.
In an expedient further development, it is provided that the mover is rotated about a pivot point by an angle in relation to its rest position, wherein the angle depends in particular on a speed and/or the acceleration of the mover. Consequently, the preferred rotation can be determined in a simple manner by means of the known translatory speed or acceleration development.
In an expedient further development, it is provided that an inlet, which includes, in particular, at least one guide wheel and/or one conveying screw, is provided for supplying the containers, wherein the mover moves the container receiving means for taking over the supplied containers at the same speed as the inlet supplies the containers. As a result, the flexible actuation of the movement of the mover can also be applied in a particularly simple manner for receiving in-coming containers without additional mechanical convertors or similar being necessary. The mover is consequently suitable precisely for transporting jobs around the container filling process.
In an expedient further development, it is provided that the inlet is arranged relative to the drive surface such that the inlet is in contact for supplying on one side of a container, whilst on another side of the container the container receiving means of the mover can move into contact with the containers for taking over the container supplied from the inlet. As a result, a simple transfer of the supplied containers to the mover can be achieved. In a particularly expedient manner, several movers are arranged next to one another for taking over the container supplied from the inlet. High speeds for supplying the containers can be transferred in a seamless manner to movers that are standing by. Several movers, which are arranged next to one another, are moved in a particularly expedient manner at the same speed for taking over the container supplied from the inlet for this reason.
In an expedient further development, it is provided that the container receiving means can receive several containers and/or the container receiving means is oriented longitudinally or transversely with respect to the direction of movement of the mover. As a result, the containers to be filled are able to be processed quickly in rows or lines, which increases the production rates of the apparatus.
In an expedient further development, the container receiving means is realized such that at least one container situated in the container receiving means is retained or released by means of a movement, in particular tilting, of the mover. As a result, a functionality of the releasing of a container, as can be necessary for weighing prior to or after the filling process, can be realized in a particularly simple manner just by means of a (rotational) movement without any additional further mechanisms.
In an expedient further development, it is provided that at least one process station such as a closing station and/or at least one weighing device and/or at least one inspection device and/or one inlet and/or one outlet is provided and the drive surface is developed such that the mover moves at least the container receiving means between the filling station and the process station. The process sequences can consequently be developed in a flexible manner by other stations being able to be approached in dependence on the state of the container. In particular in the case of unacceptable weighing results, the container can be moved to the filling station again for topping up, which is easily possible in the case of said drive concept on account of a freely-programmable route.
In an expedient further development, it is provided that the drive surface is realized as a vertical plane. As a result, relative movements that are typical precisely to the filling process, such as transport beneath the filling needles that are, as a rule, oriented vertically, can be realized in a simple manner. In a particularly preferred manner, the container receiving means is moved during the filling process. The filling needles can consequently be fixedly arranged without impairing the filling operation. The fixed arrangement of the filling needles has the effect of reducing particles as friction from the filling hoses or the like that would otherwise occur no longer occurs where the piping is fixed.
In an expedient development, it is provided that several movers, which are movable independently of one another, are provided. As a result, the process sequences can be developed in a flexible manner by other stations being able to be approached depending on the state of the container with high production rates.
Additional expedient further developments are produced from further dependent claims and from the description.